1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of rinsing laundries in a washing machine with a tilted washing tub and, more particularly, to a method of more effectively rinsing laundries within the tilted washing tub by repeatedly feeding water under pressure from the interior of the tilted tub to the upper portion of the tub and spraying the pressurized water into the tub from a nozzle provided at the upper portion of the tub during the rinsing process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a sectional view, showing the construction of a conventional upright washing machine.
As shown in the drawing, the washing tub 20 of such a conventional upright washing machine is upright suspended within the central portion of a cabinet 10 by four suspension arms 30, and so the washing machine has been so-called xe2x80x9can upright washing machinexe2x80x9d. A drive motor 40 is installed at the lower end of the washing tub 20 to rotate a perforated inner tub 23 of the washing tub 20.
The above washing tub 20 has a double-tub structure, with an outer tub 22 containing water therein during the washing or rinsing process, and a rotary inner tub 23 concentrically and rotatably set within the outer tub 22. The perforated inner tub 23 is rotatable by the drive motor 40 relative to the outer tub 22. This inner tub 23 contains laundries therein, and washes and rinses the laundries.
A drain hose 26, having a drain valve 27, extends from the bottom wall of the outer tub 22 to the outside of the cabinet 10, and discharges water from the outer tub 22 when necessary. A pulsator 25 is set on the bottom wall of the inner tub 23, and pulsates, beats and throbs to improve the laundering effect of the washing machine.
Such a conventional upright washing machine is operated as follows.
When the washing machine, with laundries and detergent contained within the inner tub 23 of the washing tub 20, is turned on, water is primarily fed into the inner tub 23 to start the primary washing process. In such a case, because the inner tub 23 is perforated such that the interior of the inner tub 23 to connect with the interior of the outer tub 22 through perforations, water is commonly contained in both the inner and outer tubs 23 and 22 and reach the same water level. When the water reaches a predetermined reference level within the washing tub 20, the drive motor 40 is turned on to rotate the inner tub 23 within the outer tub 22 at a low speed, thus primarily washing the laundries within the inner tub 23.
After a predetermined time has elapsed after the end of the primary washing process, the drive motor 40 is stopped, while the drain valve 27 is opened to discharge the washing water from the washing tub 20 to the outside of the cabinet 10 through the drain pipe 26.
After the water is completely drained from the washing tub 20 after the primary washing process, fresh water is newly fed into the washing tub 20 prior to starting a rinsing process. During such a rinsing process, the washing machine performs the same operation as that of the washing process. It is typical in the conventional washing machine to repeat such a rinsing process two or three times, with the same times of washing processes alternately performed between the repeated rinsing processes.
After the repeated washing and rinsing processes are completely finished, the inner tub 23 is rotated at a high speed to dewater the laundries.
The method of rinsing laundries in such a conventional washing machine is problematic in that it is necessary to feed rinsing water into the washing tub 20 until the water reaches a predetermined water level allowing the laundries within the inner tub 23 to be completely submerged under water. Therefore, the conventional rinsing method undesirably consumes an excessive amount of water in addition to increasing the water feeding and draining time, resulting in increasing the total processing time of the washing machine while performing a laundering operation. Another problem experienced in the conventional rinsing method resides in that the method fails to accomplish a desired rinsing effect.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art. An object of the present invention is thus to provide a method of rinsing laundries in a washing machine with a tilted washing tub, which repeatedly feeds water under pressure from the interior of the tilted washing tub to the upper portion of the tub through a water circulation hose, and sprays the pressurized water into the tub from a nozzle provided at the upper portion of the tub while rotating the tub during the rinsing process, and which reduces the amount of water required in the rinsing process in addition to the processing time during the rinsing process, and improves the rinsing effect.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a method of rinsing laundries in a washing machine with a tilted washing tub consisting of an outer tub and an inner tub, comprising the steps of: feeding a predetermined amount of rinsing water to the washing tub while constantly rotating the inner tub at an initial speed of no higher than a predetermined rpm, with the amount of the rinsing water being predetermined in accordance with the weight of the laundries to be rinsed; circulation-rinsing the laundries while rotating the inner tub at a second speed, with the rinsing water repeatedly circulated from the washing tub to the upper portion of the washing tub, and sprayed under pressure into the washing tub from the upper portion of the washing tub; draining the rinsing water from the washing tub to the outside of the cabinet of the washing machine after the circulation-rinsing step is finished; rotating the inner tub at a third speed of no lower than the second speed so as to dewater the rinsed laundries; and repeating the process from the rinsing water feeding step to the dewatering step until a preset number of rinsing processes have been completed.